IT was just a few steps away from the compound of the late Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz that the Cebu City police anti-illegal drugs choir sang the Oplan Tokhang jingle in Barangay Duljo-Fatima yesterday.
They were accompanied by a funeral hearse with a coffin inside.
Asked why a coffin was present in the funeral car, Senior Insp. Eugene Tevez, Mambaling Police Station deputy chief, said that they are helping drug pushers and users realize what they really want.
“So that they may realize that if they won’t stop with their illegal business, they will have an idea where they’re headed,” said Tevez. “There were those who already surrendered but went back to their old ways while there are many drug personalities who didn’t surrender yet.”
Diaz who was tagged as Cebu’s biggest drug lord was killed in what police described as a shootout last June 17.
The police also distributed fliers and calling cards bearing the hotline numbers of the different police stations in the city yesterday morning.
Barangay Duljo Fatima has been identified by the police as one of the barangays in Cebu City affected by the drug problem.
However, residents were still hesitant about the police’s presence in their barangay.
A vendor, who asked not to be named, said the program will be beneficial to the younger generation. She declined to comment on some of her neighbors who allegedly went back to the illegal drug trade even after presenting themselves to the authorities for Oplan Tokhang.
“Maayo ni’s mga kabatan-on karon (This is good for the youth of today),” she said.
Domingo Olarde, who hails from Balamban but is temporarily residing in Duljo Fatima, said he has taken a wait-and-see stand on the program if this will become successful.
“Tan-awon pa gud ni nato. Bana-banaon pa kung maayo ba gud o dili (We’ll still look into it. We’ll evaluate if this is helping or not),” he said.
Unlike in earlier Oplan Tokhang jingle operations where many people took time to listen to the campaign, only a few residents watched the presentation in Duljo Fatima.
Meanwhile, the choir, which was composed of the personnel from the Police Community Relations of the Cebu City Police Office, also performed in front of the officials and residents of Barangay Kamagayan after the activity in Barangay Duljo Fatima.
A group of children who were holding cardboards bearing slogans like “Think about your future, stay away from drugs,” and “Keep Out of Kamagayan, Drug Addicts” gamely posed with the choir.
Oplan Tokhang is the police’s flagship program where they knock on the doors of suspected drug users and pushers to ask them to stop in illegal drug operations.